Elaine Chao

Elaine Lan Chao (; b. March 26, 1953) currently serves as the 24th U.S. Secretary of Labor. She is the first Asian American woman and Taiwanese American to be appointed to the federal cabinet.

Childhood and education

Born Chao Hsiao-lan in Taipei, Taiwan to James S. C. Chao (趙錫成 Zhào Xīchéng), a Shanghainese entrepreneur, and Ruth Mu-lan Chu (朱木蘭 Zhū Mùlán), a historian, Elaine Chao immigrated to the United States at the age of eight. She attended Syosset High School on Long Island, New York.

Chao received her B.A. in Economics from Mount Holyoke College in 1975 and her MBA from the Harvard Business School. She also studied at MIT, Dartmouth College, and Columbia University. She is the recipient of 26 honorary doctoral degrees from colleges and universities around the world.

Career

After a brief stint as a banker with Citigroup, she was selected as a White House Fellow in 1983, working in the Office of Policy Development. While a vice president with BankAmerica Capital Markets Group, Chao became involved in Republican grassroots activities in California.

With George H.W. Bush administration

In 1986, Chao returned to Washington D.C. as Deputy Administrator of the Maritime Administration in the US Department of Transportation. From 1988 to 1989, she was Chairwoman of the Federal Maritime Commission.

In 1989, President George H. W. Bush nominated Chao to be Deputy Secretary of Transportation, the number two position in the department. From 1991 to 1992, Chao was Director of the Peace Corps. In all these positions, she was the first Asian American to serve. She expanded Peace Corps' presence in Eastern Europe and Central Asia by establishing the first Peace Corps programs in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union.

United Way and Heritage Foundation

Following her service in the government, Chao worked for four years as President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America. She is credited with returning credibility and public trust back to the organization after an embarrassing financial mismanagement scandal involving former United Way of America president, Bill Aramony. From 1996 until her appointment as Secretary of Labor, Chao was a Distinguished Fellow with the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think-tank.

Labor Secretary

Under her tenure as Labor Secretary, the Department proposed regulations that would raise the minimum salary for automatic overtime eligibility from $8,060 to $22,100, while exempting most white-collar workers earning more than $100,000. The changes were the first since 1975. On January 20, 2004, the overdue 2004 spending bill to which Chao's proposals were attached failed to obtain the 60-vote supermajority in the United States Senate needed to end debate and allow a second vote necessary for final passage. The final regulations went into effect in August 2004 and provided strengthened overtime protection for 6.7 million workers.

She, along with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld are the only original Bush Administration cabinent members still serving.

Timeline

1983: White House Fellow, Office of Policy Development, the White House
1986: Deputy Administrator, Maritime Administration, US Department of Transportation
1988–89: Chairwoman, Federal Maritime Commission
1989: Deputy Secretary of Transportation
1991–92: Director, Peace Corps
1992–96: President and Chief Executive Officer, United Way of America
1996: Distinguished Fellow, Heritage Foundation
2001–present: U.S. Secretary of Labor

Family

Elaine Chao is married to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Majority Whip of the United States Senate.

All the five children of the Chao family are girls, four of whom have names starting with "Xiao" (Little):

Xiao-lan (小蘭) (Elaine) - Lan means "orchid"
Xiao-mei (小美) - Mei means "beautiful"
Xiao-pu (小甫)
Xiao-ting (小婷)
An-chi (安吉)

External links

Elaine Chao | Elaine Chao | イレーン・チャオ | Elaine Chao | 趙小蘭

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